14-Year-Old Oakland Sexual Assault Suspect Appears In Court

SAN LEANDRO (CBS SF) — A 14-year-old Oakland boy appeared in Alameda County juvenile court Thursday on four felony counts for allegedly robbing and sexually assaulting two 28-year-old women earlier this month.

The boy is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 3 for a pretrial hearing and to set future court dates.

The boy turned himself in to juvenile authorities on Monday, two days after Oakland police asked for the public’s help in locating him.

Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said that in the first attack on Jan. 6, a woman was walking in the 1200 block of Market Street around 10 p.m. when a male who appeared to be armed with a gun approached her and demanded her wallet, police said.

The robber then forced the woman to an isolated area, where he sexually assaulted her, police said.

The second attack occurred around 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 12 in the 600 block of 11th Street.

Watson said that in that case, another woman was approached by a stranger on a bicycle who simulated a handgun and demanded her purse, police said. As in the first attack, the woman was taken to an isolated area where she was sexually assaulted.

Watson said it appears the attacker simulated a handgun in both incidents.

The boy is charged with two counts of robbery and one count each of sexual assault and kidnapping for sexual assault.

The boy is charged as a juvenile at this point but Alameda County District Attorney spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said they will ask that he be remanded to adult court after a behavioral study is completed.

The boy’s attorney, Darryl Billups, said after Thursday’s detention hearing that it probably will take several months to complete the study.

Billups said the study examine five factors, including the degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the boy, whether he can be rehabilitated while he’s still a juvenile and his previous delinquent history, if any.

He said the other two factors are the success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to rehabilitate the boy if he’s been in juvenile court before and the circumstances and gravity of the allegations in the current case.

The boy’s mother, sister and grandparents attended his hearing Thursday, which was closed to the news media.

The boy’s family members declined to comment on his case in depth but they said they are upset about the way it’s been covered in the news media because they think news stories have already convicted him before he’s had a chance to defend himself against the allegations he faces.

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